docs/html/guide/appendix/install-location.jd

page.title=App Install Location
@jd:body


<div id="qv-wrapper">
<div id="qv">

  <h2>Quickview</h2>
  <ul>
    <li>You can allow your application to install on the device's external storage.</li>
    <li>Some types of applications should <strong>not</strong> allow installation on the external
storage.</li>
    <li>Installing on the external storage is ideal for large applications that are not tightly
integrated with the system (most commonly, games).</li>
  </ul>

  <h2>In this document</h2>
  <ol>
    <li><a href="#Compatiblity">Backward Compatibility</a></li>
    <li><a href="#ShouldNot">Applications That Should NOT Install on External Storage</a></li>
    <li><a href="#Should">Applications That Should Install on External Storage</a></li>
  </ol>

  <h2>See also</h2>
  <ol>
    <li><code><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/manifest-element.html">
&lt;manifest&gt;</a></code></li>
  </ol>

</div>
</div>

<p>Beginning with API Level 8, you can allow your application to be installed on the
external storage (for example, the device's SD card). This is an optional feature you can declare
for your application with the <a
href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/manifest-element.html#install">{@code
android:installLocation}</a> manifest attribute. If you do
<em>not</em> declare this attribute, your application will be installed on the internal storage
only and it cannot be moved to the external storage.</p>

<p>To allow the system to install your application on the external storage, modify your
manifest file to include the <a
href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/manifest-element.html#install">{@code
android:installLocation}</a> attribute in the <code><a
href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/manifest-element.html">&lt;manifest&gt;</a></code> element,
with a value of either "{@code preferExternal}" or "{@code auto}". For example:</p>

<pre>
&lt;manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:installLocation="preferExternal"
    ... &gt;
</pre>

<p>If you declare "{@code preferExternal}", you request that your application be installed on the
external storage, but the system does not guarantee that your application will be installed on
the external storage. If the external storage is full, the system will install it on the internal
storage. The user can also move your application between the two locations.</p>

<p>If you declare "{@code auto}", you indicate that your application may be installed on the
external storage, but you don't have a preference of install location. The system will
decide where to install your application based on several factors. The user can also move your
application between the two locations.</p>

<p>When your application is installed on the external storage:</p>
<ul>
  <li>There is no effect on the application performance so long
as the external storage is mounted on the device.</li>
  <li>The {@code .apk} file is saved on the external storage, but all private user data,
databases, optimized {@code .dex} files, and extracted native code are saved on the
internal device memory.</li>
  <li>The unique container in which your application is stored is encrypted with a randomly
generated key that can be decrypted only by the device that originally installed it. Thus, an
application installed on an SD card works for only one device.</li>
  <li>The user can move your application to the internal storage through the system settings.</li>
</ul>

<p class="warning"><strong>Warning:</strong> When the user enables USB mass storage to share files
with a computer or unmounts the SD card via the system settings, the external storage is unmounted
from the device and all applications running on the external storage are immediately killed.</p>



<h2 id="Compatiblity">Backward Compatibility</h2>

<p>The ability for your application to install on the external storage is a feature available only
on devices running API Level 8 (Android 2.2) or greater. Existing applications that were built prior
to API Level 8 will always install on the internal storage and cannot be moved to the external
storage (even on devices with API Level 8). However, if your application is designed to support an
API Level <em>lower than</em> 8, you can choose to support this feature for devices with API Level 8
or greater and still be compatible with devices using an API Level lower than 8.</p>

<p>To allow installation on external storage and remain compatible with versions lower than API
Level 8:</p>
<ol>
  <li>Include the {@code android:installLocation} attribute with a value of "{@code auto}" or
"{@code preferExternal}" in the <code><a
href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element.html">&lt;manifest&gt;</a></code>
element.</li>
  <li>Leave your {@code android:minSdkVersion} attribute as is (something <em>less
than</em> "8") and be certain that your application code uses only APIs compatible with that
level.</li>
  <li>In order to compile your application, change your build target to API Level 8. This is
necessary because older Android libraries don't understand the {@code android:installLocation}
attribute and will not compile your application when it's present.</li>
</ol>

<p>When your application is installed on a device with an API Level lower than 8, the {@code
android:installLocation} attribute is ignored and the application is installed on the internal
storage.</p>

<p class="caution"><strong>Caution:</strong> Although XML markup such as this will be ignored by
older platforms, you must be careful not to use programming APIs introduced in API Level 8
while your {@code minSdkVersion} is less than "8", unless you perform the work necessary to
provide backward compatibility in your code. For information about building
backward compatibility in your application code, see the <a
href="{@docRoot}resources/articles/backward-compatibility.html">Backward Compatibility</a>
article.</p>



<h2 id="ShouldNot">Applications That Should NOT Install on External Storage</h2>

<p>When the user enables USB mass storage to share files with their computer (or otherwise
unmounts or removes the external storage), any application
installed on the external storage and currently running is killed. The system effectively becomes
unaware of the application until mass storage is disabled and the external storage is
remounted on the device. Besides killing the application and making it unavailable to the user,
this can break some types of applications in a more serious way. In order for your application to
consistently behave as expected, you <strong>should not</strong> allow your application to be
installed on the external storage if it uses any of the following features, due to the cited
consequences when the external storage is unmounted:</p>

<dl>
  <dt>Services</dt>
    <dd>Your running {@link android.app.Service} will be killed and will not be restarted when
external storage is remounted. You can, however, register for the {@link
android.content.Intent#ACTION_EXTERNAL_APPLICATIONS_AVAILABLE} broadcast Intent, which will notify
your application when applications installed on external storage have become available to the
system again. At which time, you can restart your Service.</dd>
  <dt>Alarm Services</dt>
    <dd>Your alarms registered with {@link android.app.AlarmManager} will be cancelled. You must
manually re-register any alarms when external storage is remounted.</dd>
  <dt>Input Method Engines</dt>
    <dd>Your <a href="{@docRoot}resources/articles/on-screen-inputs.html">IME</a> will be
replaced by the default IME. When external storage is remounted, the user can open system settings
to enable your IME again.</dd>
  <dt>Live Wallpapers</dt>
    <dd>Your running <a href="{@docRoot}resources/articles/live-wallpapers.html">Live Wallpaper</a>
will be replaced by the default Live Wallpaper. When external storage is remounted, the user can
select your Live Wallpaper again.</dd>
  <dt>Live Folders</dt>
    <dd>Your <a href="{@docRoot}resources/articles/live-folders.html">Live Folder</a> will be
removed from the home screen. When external storage is remounted, the user can add your Live Folder
to the home screen again.</dd>
  <dt>App Widgets</dt>
    <dd>Your <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/appwidgets/index.html">App Widget</a> will be removed
from the home screen. When external storage is remounted, your App Widget will <em>not</em> be
available for the user to select until the system resets the home application (usually not until a
system reboot).</dd>
  <dt>Account Managers</dt>
    <dd>Your accounts created with {@link android.accounts.AccountManager} will disappear until
external storage is remounted.</dd>
  <dt>Sync Adapters</dt>
    <dd>Your {@link android.content.AbstractThreadedSyncAdapter} and all its sync functionality will
not work until external storage is remounted.</dd>
  <dt>Device Administrators</dt>
    <dd>Your {@link android.app.admin.DeviceAdminReceiver} and all its admin capabilities will
be disabled, which can have unforeseeable consequences for the device functionality, which may
persist after external storage is remounted.</dd>
  <dt>Broadcast Receivers listening for "boot completed"</dt>
    <dd>The system delivers the {@link android.content.Intent#ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED} broadcast
before the external storage is mounted to the device. If your application is installed on the
external storage, it can never receive this broadcast.</dd>
  <dt>Copy Protection</dt>
    <dd>Your application cannot be installed to a device's SD card if it uses Android Market's 
      Copy Protection feature. However, if you use Android Market's 
      <a href="{@docRoot}guide/publishing/licensing.html">Application Licensing</a> instead, your 
      application <em>can</em> be installed to internal or external storage, including SD cards.</dd>
</dl>

<p>If your application uses any of the features listed above, you <strong>should not</strong> allow
your application to install on external storage. By default, the system <em>will not</em> allow your
application to install on the external storage, so you don't need to worry about your existing
applications. However, if you're certain that your application should never be installed on the
external storage, then you should make this clear by declaring <a
href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/manifest-element.html#install">{@code
android:installLocation}</a> with a value of "{@code internalOnly}". Though this does not
change the default behavior, it explicitly states that your application should only be installed
on the internal storage and serves as a reminder to you and other developers that this decision has
been made.</p>


<h2 id="Should">Applications That Should Install on External Storage</h2>

<p>In simple terms, anything that does not use the features listed in the previous section
are safe when installed on external storage. Large games are more commonly the types of
applications that should allow installation on external storage, because games don't typically
provide additional services when inactive. When external storage becomes unavailable and a game
process is killed, there should be no visible effect when the storage becomes available again and
the user restarts the game (assuming that the game properly saved its state during the normal
<a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/fundamentals/activities.html#Lifecycle">Activity lifecycle</a>).</p>

<p>If your application requires several megabytes for the APK file, you should
carefully consider whether to enable the application to install on the external storage so that
users can preserve space on their internal storage.</p>